The Gift of Being Ordinary….

I am fortunate and very pleased to be ordinary. I cannot imagine any greater good fortune than to be precisely that. Being that continues to enrich my life, relationships, and place in the world every single day.

I do not and will never strive to wear the label of being extraordinary, but I am certainly willing to on occasion perform or accomplish extraordinary things. Opportunities to do that come into all our lives if we are open to that possibility.

I love the paradox revealed by the comparison between ordinary people and extraordinary people. I’ll explain.

Our culture loves to put ordinary people on a pedestal and idolize them as someone exceptional. We are not content to just have good role models we can learn from and emulate. We need heroes to revere. We need to deify them as someone or something we would be foolish to aspire to. This encourages society to drape the extraordinary cape on them and kneel in their presence.

When we give a bit of thought to the subject, it is easy for most of us to think of individuals that are profiled by society as extraordinary. The mainstream media kills far too many trees and uses too many huge tanks full of ink to parade these supposedly extraordinary individuals before our gaze every moment of our lives. Social media would not exist on the scale it does in our lives if it did not participate in the same folly. We have heard it stated that some people are famous for being famous. I do not think they are extraordinary, but perhaps some people do.

But Lord only can help them if they stumble and look ordinary. We will destroy the pedestal they are perched upon.

Most of us know not to pay any heed to those who publicly declare themselves as extraordinary. They might be enjoying their own delusions about that but most of us do not believe them.

The dilemma those we decide are extraordinary contend with is part of the paradox. If they perform an extraordinary act, it can never be anything other than ordinary for them. Another way of saying this is that it cannot be considered anything other than ordinary for an extraordinary person to do an extraordinary thing. Because, you know, they are extraordinary!

If they are inclined to be honest with themselves, extraordinary people know in fact they are just ordinary. Even though they have been fortunate to be able to refine or develop a talent or skill they become famous for, they would love to shed that cape and feel smothered by it, sometimes against their will and desire. Does this explain why some culturally popular people commit suicide? Just wondering…

In contrast, when ordinary people accomplish something remarkable, it appears to be extraordinary because of who did it. And it is! That individual may enjoy some well-deserved recognition for a brief time, and that is all it should be. Then they can continue to enjoy their ordinary life.

Ordinary people are aware they know virtually nothing when compared to what there is to be known. They enjoy lives of endless curiosity and learning. They open themselves to surprises and delights along life’s journey. Every day. The more they learn, the more they want to learn. This empowers them to be and do anything they desire, and then move on and do something else if that is their wish.

Extraordinary people can become entrapped in a bubble of believing they must know everything. If they realize there is something they do not know, they may decide they must not need to know it. That is so limiting that it can stifle life itself. Being considered extraordinary can be a burden not humanly possible to carry. Be careful about wanting to be considered extraordinary. You might get what you wish for.

I wish for your younger generations today to reply when asked what they want to be, “I want to be ordinary!”

I started this commentary with expressing my gratitude for the gift of being ordinary. I hope these viewpoints sufficiently explained why I regard that status so highly. I hope I am not alone.